Dual purpose feed mill



Nov. 28, 1939.

DUAL PURPOSE FEED MILL c. E. EVERET'i' V 2,181,397

Filed March 24, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 //VV/V 7'00 CHA/PL 5 15 fvzpfrr BY A TTOR/VEY Ndv. 28, 1939. c. E.- EV-ERETT DUAL PURPOSE FEED MILL Filed MarCh 24, 1938 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Nov. 28, 1939. A c. E. EVERETT DUAL PURPOSE FEED MILL Filed March 24, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Iln IIIIIIIIIIIIII //VV N TOR C/MPL 5 5 51/5/91: rr

y B A T TORNE Y Patented Nov. 28, 1939 PATENT or ies- DUAL PURPOSE FEED MILL Charles E. Everett, Racine, Wis., assignor to The Massey-Harris Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Maryland Application March 24,

4 Claims.

Mills commonly called ensilage cutters have been in use for many years- They are used principally for cutting immatured corn stalks into short pieces and blowing the product into silos,

or for cutting fully ripened corn stalks and discharging the product into barn mows or bins. Feed grinders are very common, the most popular type of which is called a hammer mill. These mills are-used for grinding corn stalks, hay, grain and the like.

Burr type millsare also in use but not as extensively as hammer mills for grinding feed and roughage. Farmers generally favor silo cutters and hammer mills and many find it necessary to have both.

Thepresent invention relates to a unitary cutting and grinding mill and has for its object economy in space, reduced investment and reduction of operating power required. -The present invention relates to a combined cutter and grinder one section of which may be used independently as a conventional feed grinder, and the other section being adapted to be used independently as a cutter or the sections may beused simultaneously to cut and grind roughage. U

Corn stalks may be ground into feed by a hammer mill but this requires considerable power because the hammers act onthe impact principle and this system requires considerably more power than would be required if the stalks were cut into short pieces.

I therefore provide means whereby when stalks areto be ground they are first cut into short sectiens and then fed into the hammer side of the mill for-fine grinding.

Corn stalks are fibrous, therefore, obviously they are not readily broken into fine particles by impact, however, a very light blow will completely shatter shortpieces of stalks. Therefore the power required to cut the stalks into short pieces and then grind the product by the impact method results in a great saving of power and provides a more uniform product.

I provide feeding-hoppers for each unit and a gate valve between the outlet from the cutting device and'the inlet chamber of the hammer mill whereby it requires but a moment to change the valve from one operation to another.

To these and other useful ends my invention consistsof parts, combinations of parts or their equivalents, and mode of operation, and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved as described 1938, Serial No. 197,849

device as viewed from the cutter side of the unit.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the device as viewed from the hammer mill side of the unit.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device taken on line 3-4: of Figure 4.

Fig. 4 is a top view of the device.

Fig. 5 is a section'of the device taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the device taken on line 5-43 of Figure 4.

Fig. '7 is a fractional section taken on line 'l-l of Figure 6.

As thus illustrated, reference character A designates in its entirety the ensilage side of my device and reference character B designates in its entirety the hammer mill side of my device. Reference character C designates in its entirety the hammer mill discharge blower fan.

Member A is provided with a side plate It and members A and B are provided with a partition member H and'member B with a side plate [2. Member H is, in fact, an annular ring, the inner edge 13 forming a circularopening for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. 7

I provide acircular wall l4 having an outlet opening l5 with an outlet extension It to which ducts may be secured with which to conduct the cut stalks into a silo or to mows or'bins.

I provide a cut-away opening I"! in member H and a damper or gate valve l8 which is hingedly mounted'on shaft 19. Shaft 59 is provided with an arm 28 having an in-turned end M.

I provide suitable openings in brackets or otherwisewhereby the valve 18 may be moved and held in either position shown in Figures 5 or '7 so as to close the passageway to duct E6 or the opening l1, thus member it may act to direct the cut material to member it or into member B.

I provide bearings and 26 on which is rotatably mounted shaft 2'! (see Figure 5). A disk 23 is mounted on hub 25!, this disk having a diameter slightly smaller than opening it and is positioned within this opening so as to form a partition between members A and E. I

I mount a suitable number of fan blades 38 on disk 28 as clearly illustrated in Figures 3 and 5. I also mount preferably two cutter blades 3l-3i on disk 28v so they are spaced from the disk as illustrated in Figure 5.

I provide preferably a rectangular opening 32 in member ill as illustrated by dotted lines in Figure l and position a cutter plate 33 on frame bar 34. I also provide a suitable feed trough 35 and a gate valve 36 with which to regulate open- 55 ing 32. I may elect to supply a self-feeding device as a substitute for trough 35.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a stalk or ensilage cutter having two outlets which are controlled by valve 18 whereby the cut stalks and leaves may be discharged through a duct as in conventional ensilage cutters or be directed into member B as illustrated in Figure 7.

By referring to Figure 6 it will be noted that I provide a bottom member 40 for the lower half of member B the center of which is curved so as to form a suitable trough for a spiral conveyor as will hereinafter appear.

I mount on shaft 21 a hub ll having a disk 42. Other discs are mounted on shaft 21 as illustrated. At suitably spaced intervals concentric with shaft 2'! I mount bolts 43 as illustrated on which are pivotally mounted a suitable number of hammer bars M the hammers being held on shafts 43 in spaced relation by means of sleeves 45 these sleeves being positioned so as to stagger the groups of hammers as is customary in hammer mills. Bolts 43 preferably extend through openings in disc 28 which will act as a driver similar to disc 42.

I provide supporting members 5!l-5fi upon which the screen 5| rests, member 52 acting as a stop for the rear end of screen 5!. Members H], II and [Z are held against the edges of members i4 and 40 by means of suitable bolts.

An inlet opening 53 is positioned in member 13 adjacent opening H. Member 54 extends inwardly and downwardly contacting member 5! as at 55 and being secured to member 52 as illustrated, thus to provide a suitable inclined channel for the entering material and a retaining means for the rear end of member 5 i. A suitable feed hopper 56 is secured at the outer edges of opening 53 having a gate valve 5? with which to regulate the quantity of material permitted to en.- ter the grinder B. When valve i6 is set to direct the cut material into member B (see Figure 7), then valve 51 is closed.

A cover member 60 is positioned adjacent valve l8 and between members I! and i2, and a lid 6! is hingedly mounted as at 62 the free end resting on member 69 (see Figure 6) and having an inwardly extending member 63 and an upwardly extending member 64 as illustrated, the lower end of member 64 extending far enough to engage the inner edge of screen 5!, member 63 engaging the end of the screen; thus when member B! is in the position shown in Figure 6 a closed chamber is formed for the rotor in member B.

I provide means for holding lid 6! in its closed position comprising a bracket 65 and an upturned portion 66 on the free end of member 6|. A bolt 6! extends through an enlarged opening in bracket 65 and has an adjusting nut 68 and a flattened surface at the other end having an orifice. A lever 59 having ears Hi embraces the bolt end and is hinged thereto by means of bolt H. Ears 19 are cam shaped whereby when lever 69 is lifted, the bolt 61 is released so it may clear member 66 which is slotted for the purpose after which member 6i may be lifted and swung on its hinge 62.

Clearly when lid BI is lifted, screen 5! will be released and if the lid is moved out of the way the screen can be removed and replaced as is customary in hammer mills of the class.

It will be understood that screens having differently shaped and sized orifices as is customary in hammer mills may be provided.

When member B is operating, means must be provided to move the ground material into bins or sacks. I provide a worm conveyor 75, the inner end of which is rotatably mounted on member II as at 16. Blower fan C comprises a housing TI, and a bearing 18 into which the shaft of member is rotatably mounted. This shaft protrudes through housing 71. On the protruding end of the shaft I mount a V belt pulley 19.

A suitable fan rotor is secured to the shaft of member 15 and a duct 8| operatively connects the trough formed by member Q0 to the inlet side of the fan. Thus worm 15 will move the ground feed into fan C. Member 8| is made considerably larger than worm 15 to thereby permit a considerable volume of air to pass from member B into member C. Member C is provided with a suitable outlet 82 which is usually operatively connected to a cyclone separator (not shown). Fan C is securely fastened to member B by means of a bracket 83 and a sleeved bolt 84 thus member C is rigidly supported and made a part of the entire assembly.

Shaft 21 extends a distance through bearing 26 and is adapted to carry a driving belt pulley 88 and a belt shield 85 and a V belt pulley 86 which is in alignment with pulley 19 and being operatively connected thereto by belt 81.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a triple purpose mill, that all that an operator is required to do to make full use of the device is to adjust valve l3 thereby making optionally available an ensilage cutter, a hammer mill for grinding grain and light feed and a mill for economically grinding fodder and the like.

A power feed for the ensilage cutter is preferred because the feeding mechanism may be set so the stalks will be cut definitely into any desired lengths. However, I have shown a hand fed trough for the purpose of simplicity. It will also be seen that a quantity of grain may be supplied to grinder B so it may mix with the cut fodder.

Clearly many minor detail changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as recited in the appended claims.

I claim 1. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, an ensilage cutter and a feed grinder mounted in a unitary housing and having an annular ring therebetween and a common driving shaft, a disc secured to said shaft and being positioned to thereby cooperate withsaid annular ring to form a partition between said ensilage cutter and feed grinder, ensilage cutting and blowing means mounted on one side of said disc, said feed grinding means positioned at the other side of said disc, the inlet to said feed grinder being positioned adjacent the outlet of said ensilage cutter, an opening in said annular ring being positioned between the outlet of said ensilage cutter and the inlet of said feed grinder, a gate valve positioned at said opening and having means whereby the material from said ensilage cutter may be optionally directed through the ensilage cutter outlet or into said feed grinder inlet.

2. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, an ensilage cutter and a hammer mill, each being mounted in a unitary housing and having a partition therebetween and a single driving shaft, said partition formed by the ensilage cutter knife and fan blade carrying disc and an annular ring therearound, said having a ensilage cutter having two outlets, one of said outlets intersecting the hammer mill inlet and gate valve and means whereby the material from said ensilage cutter may be discharged optionally into said hammer mili inlet or through said other outlet.

3. A' device of the class described, comprising in combination, ensilage cutter and hammer mill operating mechanisms rotatably mounted on a single shaft and in a unitary housing, the knife and blade carrying disc of said ensilage cutter mechanism cooperating with an annular ring to form a partition between and hammer mill mechanisms, said ensilage cut ter having a side inlet and two outlets, one outlet arranged on a tangent with the blades thereof and the other being adjacent the first outlet and extending through said annular ring and intersecting the inlet of said hammer mill, a

the ensilage cutter v gate valve positioned in said second outlet and having means whereby the material may be optionally discharged through said tangent outlet or into said hammer mill inlet.

4. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, a unitary housing and a single driving shaft rotatably mounted in the side walls thereof, a partition forming chambers between said side walls, independent cutting and grinding devices mounted on' said shaft and on opposite sides of said partition, said cutting and grinding device having adjacent outlet and inlet connections and a connection therebetween in said partition having therein a two-way valve and means whereby said valve may be positioned to either discharge the cut material direct from the cutting device or discharge it into the inlet of said grinding device.

CHARLES E. EVERETT. 

